The Dillon tribune., 1887-01-14
FROM DILLON TO Los ANGELES.
A Letter from II Former Dillontte, De
xcribing the Trip Via Portland and
the Pacific Ocean.

from Dillon, on our way north. we siio
along smoothly down the valley until Me
rose is reached, where we stop for break
fast. At day.break, as
THAT early beam, SO fair and sheen.
Puppies the mountain and the stream
we again set forth. As We pass down tn
J. canyon the ever changing scene Of tn
"everlasting hills is constant source 0
study ant! admiration to the student Of ma
turc. Soon We emerge into a widening
valley, where here and there bands o
!. horses and cattle are feeding on the dr.,
and apparently worthless grass-here i
. one Of the wonders OF Montana-tha
horses and cattle can feed on this grass al
winter, grow fat, and make the best bee
and the strongest horses in the world. Al
ter a stop of several hours in the Silver
city, the train is again boarded, and in q
few hours Garrison is reached without in.
cident. At Garrison we transfer ourselves
and baggage to the Northern Paciic-the
through train to Portland. AT daylight
we wake near the Cou, d'AIene mount.
aims, and find ourselves wrapped in man.
tie Of fog. Some Of the lofty peaks which
rise abruptly skywards many hundreds Of
feet-their sides clothed with evergreens
to the top-are grand and beautiful to look
! upon. From thence, for q long distance,
we pass over what seems 10 be great
plateau; no hills above us to he seen.
Soon after crossing the western line Of
Montana, We reach Lake Pen d. Oreille, a
beautiful sheet Of water, which is /, or /,
miles long, OF irregular width and having
a beautiful wooded island near the center
The irreguIarity Of this lakes shore line
enhances its beauty greatly.
Nothing Of Importance is noted until We
we reach Spokane Falls. The rapids at
that place affords good water power,
which in connection with good surround.
ing wheat country, and converging rail
road lines, is making It lively town. 1t
already has several thousand inhabitants. |
We left Spokane Falls after shutdown and
Dalles, and found ourselves in the land Of
the Webfeet, and Of course it was raining.
At a. M. we stopped in the near vicinity
Of the Cascades. Here the road runs close
by the river; on the left, going down |
stream, the mountains rise abruptly from |
1000 to 1900 feet above the track, and are
constantly showing every conceivable
change in form; at many places presenting
a perpendicular face Of many hundred feet. |
over which several cascades fall. The
largest one-S,+ Textbooks like grea,
bridal veil; again, sharp peaks and lofty |
Observation-Disclosures they can get foo,
hold. All these features present a scene. |
for several miles, Of marvellous beauty and
grandeur.
AS was writing in the car, l beheld !
curious looking, lone rock on the right
hand side Of the track, that doomed up he
tween us and the river. The main cone
has a diameter at the base Of about 200
feet; height about 200. On the side next
the river is rock tower, nearly detached, |
900 feet high. When we reached this place
the train stopped.
soon learned that there were "rocks
ahead" A short distance below the road |
makes short curve around mountain.
1900 or 1900 hundr-d feet high, and
nearly perpendicular. Within a short
time-not to exceed two hours-thre.
huge rocks had fallen on the track. These
stayed our progress. One Of them
tell on the rails and ties, and crashed into
the ground four or five fleet think they
would average ten to fifteen feet square,
They blasted them out OF the way with
dynamite. At two o'clock, a special train
was sent up from Portland, "a miles dis. !
tant' and at ! ?. IN. we arrived safely in
that thriving city.
On Sunday evening went aboard the
steamer "Columbia," which lef, her wharf
at midnight. We were on the river (,
hours After daylight enjoyed viewing
the beautiful scenery on the river, A,
Astoria We lay /: hours, part of that tim.
waiting tor the tide to rise before crossing
the bar. We were crossing the bar Will.
AZ breakfast. The steamer made som.
fearful p'unges-so 1t seemed 10 us lands
men, In about fifteen minutes | me, with
the lands'nan's inevitable misfortune. a,i.,
which l felt better, but not much l;l..
sight seeing, so lay down until the nex,
morning.
After breakfast, felt much revived and
refreshed and enjoyed the rest Of the vow
age O" the "briny dceH"-looking out for
many hours over the rolling pillows.
thursday morning at s o'clock We passed